Justin Theroux breaks his silence on Jennifer Aniston split and reveals the most 'exhausting' part

Justin Therouxhas finally addressed his highly-publicized split from Jennifer Aniston. Following seven years together, the 47-year-old actor and 49-year-old TV icon announced their split back in February with a joint-statement. While they asserted that the decision was “mutual and lovingly made,” Justin has been radio silent about the headline-making matter, until now. He dove into the topic for the first time during a new interview for The New York Times, which was released on Saturday, September 22. The Girl on the Train star opened up about the separation, discussing the termination of his and Jennifer's two-year marriage.

Justin Theroux and Jennifer Aniston were together for seven years Photo: Getty Images

“How do you combat gossip and rumor?” he asked, sensibly prefacing his addressing of the split. “The good news is that was probably the most — I’m choosing my words really carefully — it was kind of the most gentle separation, in that there was no animosity.” He then elaborated on the tiring aftermath of it all: “In a weird way, just sort of navigating the inevitable perception of it is the exhausting part.”

He went on to say that “these are actually in reality small events that take place, but everything can feel like 10 on the Richter scale if you make the headline big enough and salacious enough.” The Maniac star added that acting is a very strange lifestyle and therefore breakups are just a different animal in Hollywood.

Justin opened up about his split from Jennifer Photo: Getty Images

However, he stayed true to the sentiment from his and Jennifer’s original statement. “Again, neither one of us is dead, neither one of us is looking to throw hatchets at each other,” he told the publication. “It’s more like, it’s amicable. It’s boring, but, you know, we respected each other enough that it was as painless as it could be.”

Even still Justin calls the breakup “heartbreaking,” but “only in the sense that the friendship would not be the same, as far as just the day to day.” On the bright side, he says that both of them are working to maintain a new friendship. “That part is something that we’re both very proud of.” Justin and Jennifer first met in 2008 on the set of Tropic Thunder and then began dating in 2011. After four years together, they surprised family and friends with a secret ceremony just shy of Justin’s 44th birthday in August 2015.